Dark Sanctuary
by Troid
Summary: Three new enemies appear to challenge Darkrai and the others as they race across the continents, fighting to save their world. Adventure, action, humor, and lots of Legendaries. Part two of the Reverse Moon Trilogy. Review, review, review!
1. Overture

Hello there! This, in case you missed it in the description, this is a sequel. Have you not already read its predecessor, Dark Moon I suggest you do so (and drop of a long, juicy review while you're at it) before continuing.

That said, welcome to the second story of my series! Here you'll find mystery, adventure, humor, action, awesomeness, Darkrai, and a whole host of the other "Legendaries." No prologue this time, so let's jump right in! I promise you won't be disappointed if you stick with me, and I'll write all the better if you hand over some well-thought-out constructive criticism…

Rest assured, this story has zero relation to the anime.

Anyway, onward!

* * *

The woods surrounding Sendoff Spring glistened—with the moisture of the morning dew, and with a hidden nonsentient anxiety that permeated every tree and every blade of grass. The world was growing strained, stretched taut under the malevolent lidded eye of the new moon, which had gazed coldly down upon it for a considerable time without waxing. This phenomenon, christened the Reverse Moon, was bathing the planet in relentless waves of unnatural energy, dark radiation which was causing nature itself to suffer, though it showed no signs of its distress.

In the forest, the trees still stood tall with their blue-green needles on display, but there was an undercurrent of distress in the ecosystem's natural rhythm and a vaguely threatening feeling of foreboding in the air that was not lost on the three who traveled now through the woods—well, maybe save one of them.

"This is beyond ridiculous," griped Darkrai. "Why did he"—with that word he jabbed a finger in the direction of the one indeed completely oblivious to the tension in the atmosphere—"have to come? Deoxys, I can understand you, but Rotom?"

The trio was bound for Turnback Cave, home to the Legendary Pokémon and master of alternate dimension called Giratina. He possessed powers of 'reverse' energy himself, and it was agreed he could likely help them solve the mystery of the moon's altered state…that is—and they had all (again excluding Rotom) caught this in the offing when Arceus had told them to seek Giratina out—if he wasn't the cause of it himself

Darkrai alone had a particular reason to suspect this, as he still hadn't told anyone about what he had seen through a dimensional rift that had opened briefly on the space deity Palkia's domain of Materia Island: the form of Giratina himself, set in grayscale but with ghastly, solid red eyes. He had kept the nightmarish vision to himself, even once the copy of him known as Reverse Darkrai (who had been killed by a dimensional collapse which it seemed he had lured them into) hinted that he was not the true force behind the Reverse Moon plot.

"Hey!" exclaimed Rotom, hurt by Darkrai's affront. "I saved you all!"

Deoxys laughed at that. "Didn't he save you life after you after you lost to your evil clone, Darkrai?"

"_Lord_ Darkrai!"

"Then call me _Lord_ Deoxys."

"Whatever! All Rotom did was finish Reverse Darkrai off after we did all the work!"

"Still," said Rotom, giving Darkrai an irritating smile which might have earned him bodily harm had Darkrai been looking his way, "you're pretty much only alive 'cause of me!"

"You might just cease to be alive because of _me_," growled Darkrai, "if you don't shut up."

They reached Sendoff Spring, a low, recessed basin enshrouded in dense fog and further hidden by the way the curved terrain deterred line of sight from reaching it. The pines towered especially high around the spring, their imposing forms resembling nothing so much as a palisade, giving the distinct impression the forest did not want or welcome visitors there. The fog, coupled with what despite the water's crystalline clarity and cold temperature appeared to be steam rising from its surface, obscured the entrance to Turnback Cave inset in the rock near the water level, and they spent some time searching for it. They might not have found it at all if Rotom hadn't, after trying to use the ability Defog (which he couldn't use and wouldn't have worked anyway), floated through it at random.

As the three entered Turnback Cave, the light from the opening behind them seemed to be choked by the unnaturally dense darkness within, leaving the chamber they now stood in only dimly illuminated. Ahead they saw among the shadows a worn, ancient-looking pillar with faded ruins etched into its surface. Darkrai ignored it, Rotom gaped unhelpfully at it, and Deoxys went to the column and studied its engravings for a moment. "'Turnback Cave,'" he read, "'Intersection point of time and space. Enter and find only an endless maze from which none escape and within which many lose their tether to reality.'"

"Um, that sounds, uh, bad," said Rotom.

Darkrai was already heading toward the nearest of a dozen doorways set in the polygonal room's stone walls. "Hey!" called Deoxys. "How do you know that's the right way?" Giving no indication that he had heard, Darkrai continued through the door and out of sight. Deoxys and Rotom followed, one muttering under his breath about who they'd have to blame if they got lost and the other, all worries of losing tether to reality now replaced by thoughts of funny Magikarp, humming pleasantly.

-s- -s- -s-

Arceus had of course considered the possibility that it was Giratina who was responsible for the Reverse Moon; considered it well before the battle with Reverse Darkrai had even taken place…but he had not yet allowed himself to believe it could be true. He and Giratina had been nothing if not friends since the beginning of the universe itself, and he couldn't imagine Giratina secretly working against him. It was with something like relief that recently he had become aware of a reason to suspect the Renegade Pokémon was in fact not the cause of the altered moon, a reason he was now waiting to share with his Lieutenants.

Arceus stood, as always, in the Hall of Origin. The Hall was a large, ornate chamber of faintly luminous white stone, removed from ordinary time and space and accessible only through a temporary gateway to it that took the form of a glowing, ethereal staircase. These stairs would only appear if Arceus summoned them or if Mew, Celebi, or Jirachi played a certain song on their Azure Flutes. Those three were in the Hall with Arceus as well, sleeping quietly in a huddle a short distance away. Arceus waited patiently, as he had since Deoxys, Darkrai, and Rotom had left, until Mew stirred and raised her head. She slowly yawned and levitated slightly as though sitting in midair.

"Good morning, Lord Mew," said Arceus warmly. "Did you sleep well?"

"I did," said Mew, dipping her head briefly in respect. "You didn't sleep at all?"

Arceus smiled. "I don't really require sleep on a regular basis."

"You should still sleep when it's nighttime!"

"Ha ha…night in the Hall? I wasn't aware we had night or day here. Is that new?" he teased.

Mew was about to retort, but broke off and turned as Celebi awoke. He too yawned and began hovering. "'Morning, Master Arceus, Lord Mew." Seeing Jirachi still slumbering on, he poked her none too gently in the arm. "You too."

Jirachi groaned and rolled over. "Five more minutes…"

"You sleep all the time," laughed Mew. "Get up already."

Jirachi assumed her usual floating manner, but kept her eyes shut. "Sure. I'm up. Really."

"I'd love for you to be able to sleep all day, Lord Jirachi," said Arceus, "but unfortunately we have several less-than-cheery matters to attend to."

"So much for sweet dreams," grumbled Jirachi, opening her eyes.

Arceus began. "Firstly, the natural disasters we've been seeing around the globe are worsening because a number of Legendary Pokémon with dominion over the elements have disappeared. It seems this happened while we were preoccupied with Reverse Darkrai; I was not even aware of the situation until Deoxys happened to check on his usual charges and found them missing."

"They just...vanished?" asked Mew.

"Deoxys cannot locate their energy signatures, and while he has told me his senses are impaired by the Reverse Moon, I believe he would be able to if they were not being cloaked specifically—by the moon or some other force. None are where they usually reside... I reassure you that if any were to die, I would know; none of them have." He paused. "Secondly: three new enemies have appeared."

"What?" exclaimed Mew. "How can you be sure?"

"They simultaneously spiked their energies a while ago. There was no mistaking the intent; they were sending a message."

Jirachi frowned. "So they're the ones behind the Reverse Moon...for sure?"

"That's just it," said Arceus with a sigh. "They may be, and they may not be. Time will tell..."

"How powerful were they?" Celebi asked.

"It's difficult to say," replied Arceus. "Forgive me, but I am not skilled at differentiating energy levels so far beneath my own... I will ask Deoxys if he came to a determination when he felt the spike."

Mew had an equally reasonable query: "What were they? Pokémon, or...?"

"I wish I knew." Arceus seemed to concentrate briefly, as if recalling the moment when he had detected the three presences. "Their energy felt strange... I can't quite place it. But you should be on the lookout for something different."

"If I had to guess..." put in Celebi. "I'd say you want us to investigate the Legendaries' disappearances, and wait for those three to make the first move."

"Precisely. I don't know their locations anyway."

"Elemental Legendaries missing, natural disasters getting worse, and these three _differents_ running loose?" Jirachi looked significantly at the other three. "I'd say they already made the first move."

-s- -s- -s-

Deep inside the twisting depths of Turnback Cave, Deoxys, Darkrai, and Rotom had finally reached the central chamber. Within that space, dark purple smoke seemed to bend around the cold stone walls like creeping fingers only to vanish in an instant and leave the question of whether it had been just a trick of the light. The air was musty with countless eons of stillness, and the ceiling—if there was one—was obscured by a veil of utter darkness that hovered over them like a physical presence. The chamber was huge. It was intimidating. And at its center was absolutely nothing; it was also empty. There was no sign of the High Lord Giratina, and apart from it unsettling appearance, the room looked to be in perfect order, showing no signs of a struggle. The six giant claw marks in the chamber's midpoint where Giratina had probably stood immobile for centuries were about the most interesting feature of the place.

"There are only faint traces of his energy here..." said Deoxys. "He hasn't been here for a while."

"And he isn't here now," noted Rotom.

"Your amazing energy senses couldn't have told you that _before_ we slogged through this dust trap?" Darkrai growled at Deoxys.

"My senses are the only reason we didn't have to let _you_ lead us the wrong way into an inescapable maze," Deoxys fired back. "This cave is a mess of dimensional warping and it's a wonder I can sense anything five meters away." He sighed, gazing at the claw marks and the ominously empty space around them that made their visibility possible. "This isn't looking good..."

They turned to leave and found the entrances had silently been sealed with large slabs of stone. Rotom yelped and began zooming around the chamber for any Rotom-sized hole which he might slip through to escape, all the while shrieking that they were trapped and doomed to die. "It's a defense mechanism," said Deoxys, volume increased to be audible over Rotom's shrill voice. "They probably only open when Giratina allows them to, but since he isn't here..."

"That," said Darkrai, drawing back a fist, "is a terrible excuse for a defense mechanism."

_Cloaked in shadow and hidden from all means of detection by the cave's errant dimensional bending, someone watched them go. A pair of solidly red eyes glowed briefly in the darkness, then vanished._

* * *

A/N: Much as I'd love for this chapter to be longer, there's only so much stage-setting one can do. Feel like reviewing yet? Because **you absolutely have to** at some point.


	2. The First Move

Night fell greedily as Mew and the others soared together over the glistening sea to Hoenn's east, their destination a small archipelago far out in the waters, past even the island where the humans' Ever Grande City lay, a formation known as the Stellar Isles. The islands had been over the years a refuge for many Legendary Pokémon who found themselves out of their elements; there were many landmasses, some large and some small, and each of them seemed to imitate a different biome. Though none reached extremes like icefields or deserts, there was at least one island there that could meet the needs of any Pokémon, elemental or otherwise, who would reach them. It was over these miniature habitats that the Lieutenants flew, passing over several of the smallest, outlying spits of land and to the few central isles, which were bigger and played host mostly to temperate forests with a hint of some slightly more lush vegetation.

They could not miss the great white form lying among the tree of one island: an enormous, winged Pokémon with along neck, sleek body, and sharp angles drawing together to form his crested head. This was Lugia, lord over currents and storms; at the moment he appeared to be in a sleep, his broad blue-shaded chest and underbelly rising and falling slowly as Jirachi, Mew, and Celebi touched down beside him. The stars seemed to glint knowingly as Mew approached the Diving Pokémon, as if they were sending some signal piercing through the darkness which had so ravenously swallowed the daylight.

Celebi noticed the stirring first. "Watch out!"

In a blur, Lugia swept his colossal wing at Mew in a backhand motion and struck her with devastating force. Allowing herself to be knocked back, Mew moved to her previous position beside Celebi and Jirachi as Lugia sprang up from the ground with a roar, whipping up a great gust, and they could see that the Pokémon's eyes were blank; solid white in color. Loosing a cry that sounded like a tornado dismantling a protesting metal structure, Lugia began to charge golden energy in his mouth, the action accompanied by a strong humming sound.

"We never catch a break," muttered Jirachi, and Lugia fired the Aeroblast.

A shaft of concentrated light bright as the sun erupted from Lugia's gaping maw, searing away the very air like lightning. Calmly, Mew moved in front of the screaming laser of undiluted elemental force and drew back one tiny arm; as the light reached her, she swung at it and simply batted it away. The beam was redirected with a _snap_ as if refracted by an unseen prism, and it shot harmlessly away into the heavens.

"Is the Reverse Moon causing this?" Celebi glanced upwards.

"It must be," said Mew. "If he wasn't in control of his actions, he wouldn't have come here."

With another piercing shriek, Lugia again readied an Aeroblast, this time holding onto the energy much longer, until it had built up into a great sphere floating before his mouth that all but obscured him from view.

Lit yellow by the glow of the energy, Celebi was as calm as ever. "We need to stop him without doing any real harm."

"Let's just hit him with the next one he sends at us," said Jirachi.

It was an array of golden energy streams that leapt from Lugia as he released the amassed power; the many lances of flight fanned out to sear gashes in the surrounding earth before converging into a far more intense, single laser-like focus of energy which rushed with a howl towards the Lieutenants. As it reached them, the three conjured a combined force field which caught the beam and directed it back the way it came. The energy struck Lugia in the chest and knocked him over backwards, and he was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Jirachi sighed. "So, teleport him back to the Hall?"

Before Mew or Celebi could respond, all three felt an aura of power descend on the area, manifested as increased pressure in the air, and they were instantly alert. A tense moment passed, and then around Lugia there appeared three figures, one after the other, each crouched slightly as if landing from a great leap. Together the straightened and raised their piercing eyes to the Lieutenants.

They resembled humans in every respect, but the energy that radiated from them like heat made it perfectly clear they were not. The first, who stood loosely with his hands in the pockets of the white garment he wore, had bright blue, spiky hair and jack-o'-lantern orange eyes which in the darkness seemed to glow, and a confident smile. The second's hair was short and dark red; he was himself slightly shorter and less lithe than the first figure, though still slender. His own faintly luminous eyes were lit crimson, and he had a wholly serious look. The third, however, wore a derisive sneer on his face. He had hair black as midnight that was slicked back and on the longer side, and mismatched eyes: one a dark gray, not quite black, and the other green.

The second, flame-haired human lookalike spoke first, his voice level and commanding. "Greetings, Lieutenants of Arceus. My name is Magus."

"I'm Grey," said the first with a laugh. "A pleasure to meet such tasty food!"

"Renzan," said the last of the three shortly.

"So we know your names. _What_ are you?" challenged Celebi. "Why are you here?"

Magus spread his arms. "We are what you see. We're here…" He indicated the fallen Lugia. "To take this one with us."

Mew advanced. "We don't let you do that."

"Like you have a choice," scoffed Grey while Renzan laughed, an unpleasant sound. "No need to fight you. You three are already dead."

The three beings closed in on Lugia. Immediately Mew rushed at them, but before she made it halfway, they vanished in a blur, and Lugia with them. The strange pall in the air cast their energies was lifted in that instant as well; they were gone as quickly as they had arrived, like shadows melding with the darkness and disappearing into the nights.

-s- -s- -s-

Back in the Hall of Origin, Arceus's frown deepened as Celebi recounted what had transpired, and when Celebi reached his conclusion—their decision to return to the Hall rather than search for the other Legendaries—he did not respond immediately. He only stood in silence, allowing a terrible quiet to stretch within the chamber's marble-esque walls. At length, he spoke.

"I am…_disappointed_. I cannot understand why when they appeared you didn't think to secure your defenseless comrade's safety." His sharp eyes swept over them. "You should not have allowed that to happen."

Jirachi hung her head, instinctively drawing her shoulders tight. Celebi expelled a held breath, while Mew appeared almost frozen, her eyes gazing vaguely downwards but focused on nothing. Arceus went on. "If you exchange repartee rather than protecting others, you are not performing your duties." There was a hard edge to his voice.

"Master Arceus…" said Jirachi tentatively, looking up. "I won't try to make excuses. But we _will_ bring Lord Lugia back, and I promise we won't let them take a single Pokémon more."

Arceus regarded her for a moment, and when he next spoke it was with a gentler tone. "I'm sorry, Lord Jirachi, and Lord Mew and Lord Celebi. I am sometimes frustrated by being unable to personally assist and I may…release that frustration in ways that are less constructive. I shouldn't blame you so harshly."

"You _can't_ assist?" repeated Celebi, puzzled. "What do you mean, Master Arceus?"

Arceus sighed. There was great weariness behind the exhalation, and the silence following it was equally weighty. "Perhaps I should tell you. I am—strained. For a time now, I have felt a weight upon me greater than my usual sustenance of reality, and it is not merely the Reverse Moon. Since even before the moon was affected, I've been sensing something grow darker, heavier. I do not know what it is, but part of my consciousness is aware of it. I…have not slept in a long time."

"Master Arceus," said Mew, feeling a sudden swoop of an overwhelming, hollow helplessness. "If I'd known…"

"Don't worry, Lord Mew," said Arceus with a warm smile. "With the three of you around, I assure you my spirits are much improved." And Mew found that with that simple smile, the gnawing feeling left her.

"Do you think what you feel is the true cause of the Reverse Moon?" asked Celebi.

"That could be…among other things," murmured Arceus. Celebi was about to inquire as to what he meant when, at the same instant, they all felt a mental twinge as an enormous flare of energy sprang to life in the planet's atmosphere.

-s- -s- -s-

Darkrai, Deoxys, and Rotom were on their way back to the Hall, staying low to the ground since neither of the others could keep up with Deoxys's Speed form and Rotom couldn't hitch a ride if Darkrai used his shadow ability. The slow pace made the trip arduous, but this irked Darkrai less than, say, Rotom reminding everyone how he was their savior.

"I'm pretty much your guys's savior," remarked Rotom for no less than the tenth time that fifteen minutes. "You guys definitely wouldn't have ever gotten out of that dimension if I hadn't been there, so if you'd lived you woulda been stuck there for forever. And let me tell you, that'd be no fun! All alone forever and ever…"

"Actually being alone forever is sounding pretty appealing right now," quipped Deoxys as he flew even with Darkrai.

"And what if you'd still been there when the whole thing collapsed?" Rotom sounded horrified at the magnitude of the tragedy he'd saved everyone from. "Just sitting there when suddenly BOO—" And, at that very moment, the energy spike hit.

Deoxys was already looking up, as he had sensed the incoming presence a beat before the full force had registered, and Darkrai followed suit. At first it was visible only as a bright spot among the clouds, then as a small dot, and then as something much larger and more terrifying: there was a massive meteor hurtling out of the sky. It bore down straight at them, clipping an unfortunate Pidgey as it fell, wrapped in flames and so enormous even Rotom noticed it.

By all evidence it was an ordinary—if extremely coincidental—blazing chunk of space rock, but Darkrai noted that for some reason Deoxys appeared happy to see it (though it was hard to tell, given that his eyes were his only features). While Rotom ducked for the shelter a clump of bushes apparently provided, Deoxys shifted to Defense form and waited motionlessly as the meteor drew ever closer to impact. A split second before the rock was close enough to block all light—and an instant before Darkrai decided standing coolly next to him had been a bad idea—he shot upwards at it and hit it with his two right tentacles, knocking the meteor back up like an oversized cosmic volleyball. Just as the now significantly dented mass was about to fall again, he hit it with an Attack form blast and shattered the stone.

Amid the splintered fragments of rock was revealed a small, oblong, green gem which spun up from the force of the attack, catching the sun's light. Deoxys caught the crystal in his Normal form's hands as it tumbled earthward.

One could almost see the stone's sparkles reflected in Rotom's eyes as he returned from his hiding spot. "What is that?" Rotom had apparently forgotten all about the giant meteor, and was oblivious to the still dangerously-sized debris raining down (though Deoxys was redirecting them with his Psychic power, Rotom couldn't have known).

"Looks like yours," observed Darkrai.

Deoxys gave a mouthless smile. "Wait and see." He set the softly glowing gem on the ground; then the purple marking on his face began to shine, and a lattice of like-colored waves spread from it to encircle the green gem like a spotlight. The stone pulsed brightly and sent out a strong flash of white light, and when it cleared, there stood a roughly humanoid Pokémon whose angular, orange-red body bore four tentacles for limbs and whose face was featureless but for two eyes. She was identical Deoxys but for the crystal in her chest and the markings on her face and back—hers were a vivid green—and perhaps her coloration was redder than Deoxys's.

Both Deoxys gave cries of delight and embraced, laughing. Rotom, as usual, just looked confused, while Darkrai folded his arms and waited for the explanation he didn't particularly care if he received. The Deoxys pair broke apart, and they turned to face the other two. "Well," said Deoxys happily, "this is Deoxya!"

"Hey," Deoxya said. She spoke in a confident but pleasant voice that suggested she wasn't as serious as Deoxys. Darkrai gave a semi-sincere, small bow. "Pleased to meet you."

Rotom was still struggling to comprehend. "You're…" he said slowly.

Deoxys nodded. "Another Deoxys."

"…Deoxys's _girlfriend?_" completed Rotom.

Deoxys muttered something inaudible that sounded like 'Whismur,' but Deoxya winked and said cheerily, "Of course!"

As Rotom continued to stare at the two, Jirachi came into view in the direction, soaring over a ridge in their direction. "Now there's a familiar face," said Darkrai. "Shall I explain the situation while you three sit around chatting?"

* * *

A/N: She's not a clone, she's just another Deoxys! Author's note, irrespective of how you pronounce 'Deoxys,' he name is _not_ pronounced 'dee-OKS-ya.' It is 'day-OKS-eya,' with a subtle long e on the last syllable. Might as well write it Déoxya, but to me that seems unnecessary and a little pretentious. She ain't French.

Sorry for the update gap, and I regret to inform you that there's going to be another one; I haven't even started the next chapter yet (well, I have an completed draft of it, but it needs to be rewritten). Stay tuned!


	3. Challenge

"I was pretty far away, but I'd been keeping an eye out here," said the newcomer. Introductions had been made, and now Deoxya was recounting her reason for coming back. "As soon as I felt the moon's energies change, I knew something was wrong."

"I'm glad you decided to help," said Jirachi. "We should return to the Hall... I'll fill you in on the way."

"Okay." Deoxya smiled; just as with Deoxys, the action was complete sans mouth. "I have a pretty clear picture of what's been happening thanks to my senses, though."

"Doesn't matter. They'll provide you with every last minute detail they can think of," said Darkrai, gesturing in a random way that apparently represented minute details. "Like when Celebi showed up to 'fill me in,' moon this and moon that..."

"Is he always this grouchy?" asked Deoxya, raising an invisible eyebrow.

Deoxys rolled his eyes. "This is him in a good mood."

"Bad," corrected Darkrai.

"And why's that?" Darkrai didn't answer Deoxya's question, prompting another eye roll from Deoxys.

"Hey," noted Rotom, gazing at Deoxys. "You're really good at that."

-s- -s- -s-

On the way back to Spear Pillar, just as they had passed out of the forested area and into a sprawling landscape of rocky crags, Deoxys and Deoxya halted abruptly. "What's up?" queried Jirachi, turning to face them.

"Someone's closing in, fast," replied Deoxys, assuming a ready stance.

"They have some strange energy..." said Deoxya. "I'm guessing it's one of those three you met."

"He's alone?" Jirachi asked, and Deoxya nodded.

One tense second later, Renzan suddenly stood before them. As before, he looked as if he had just landed from a jump, and his feet even cracked the stone beneath him as he appeared. "We were interrupted last time," he said without preamble to Jirachi, leering. "Since I'm the only one now, we should be able to get the festivities started!" His tone was bloodthirsty.

"Forget your _festivities_; what are you planning?" barked back Jirachi. "And what did you do with Lord Lugia?"

Darkrai laughed. "Yeah, he's definitely going to tell you." He had his arms folded and was hanging back, apparently completely disinterested. "Beat it out of him."

"You weaklings couldn't even touch me," said Renzan scathingly. "You're living on borrowed time as it is..."

"Is that so?" Deoxys stepped forward. "Let's see."

Renzan sprang at him, hand extended like a claw towards Deoxys throat, but Deoxys wrapped a tentacle around his attacker's arm and turned sharply to whip Renzan around and at the nearby cliff face. Renzan flipped in midair and against the rocks like a coiled spring; he extended his legs the next instant and flew again at Deoxys, who sidestepped to avoid the dive. As Renzan touched down, his weight borne first on his hands so he could propel himself upwards and spin to land on his feet, Deoxys was already rising into the air, his form shifting to Attack. Just as Renzan turned, Deoxys fired.

A salvo of large energy pulses rained down all around him, but Renzan's speed was extraordinary. He dashed forward, weaving among the incoming bursts and skirting around their short-lived eruptions from the stone underfoot, and, finally nearing Deoxys, he leapt over the final missile and aimed an aerial kick at the DNA Pokémon. An instant before the blow connected, Deoxya rammed him from the side. Renzan sailed to the ground, somehow again coming smoothly out of the fall with a somersault and springing quickly to his feet, and they faced off for a second time.

"He can't fly," pointed out Deoxys.

"You're half right," Renzan snarled up at them. "If I were you, I'd be more worried about what I _can_ do."

"If I were you," said Deoxya, "then you'd be me. And if you were me, you'd be about to make you regret your big talk." Together, as if on some unspoken signal, Deoxya and Deoxys morphed into their Speed forms and rushed at Renzan, striking at him with lightning-fast jabs their tentacles. He avoided several blows before Deoxya's flurry caught him in the jaw and he was knocked back to collide with the ridge. "That hurt," he growled as he slid down to ground level. "I'll make you pay for this...later."

"Oh no, you don't!" exclaimed Jirachi, her hands sparking yellow. "You aren't going anywhere until you tell us—"

"Shut up," interjected Renzan. "Yes—I'll tell you where Lugia is. That's the whole point."

"'Whole point?'" repeated Jirachi. "You're going to regret these games before long."

"You'll find Lugia in the Northern Ruins, in Orre." He smiled evilly. "I'll be going now."

Deoxys advanced, although Jirachi gave him an almost imperceptible shake of her head. "You don't think we're going to let you leave, do you?"

Renzan cackled at that. "No, I don't. But guess what?" His smile widened by several unnaturally sharp molars. "I'm leaving anyway." And he vanished with all the suddenness of an illusion.

-s- -s- -s-

Grey looked up from his reclined position atop one of the Northern Ruins's many decrepit pillars as Renzan appeared nearby and walked over. Magus stood atop a taller tower. "So?" he said without turning. "Are they going to accept our challenge?"

"Of course they are," said Grey. "Even though they know it's a trap."

"You know the fools will come to try and save him," said Renzan, gesturing at Lugia, who lay unconscious on the ground a short distance away, ensnared in ropes of light.

Magus nodded. "And how are they others doing?"

"Just fine," said Renzan with a thin smile. "Locked up nice and tight." Then, he frowned. "I still don't see why we can't just kill them."

"It's not your place to _see_ or think about anything," said Magus. "Only to do."

Renzan glared burningly at the back of Magus's head, but said nothing. Grey spoke up. "Why kill them, anyway? They're not going anywhere."

"Shut up, Grey," scoffed Renzan. "What is this, morality?"

"It's me not liking your axe-murderer attitude."

"Who do you think you are?" retorted Renzan, a dangerous edge in his voice. "I don't care if you don't like my _attitude_."

"Enough." Magus spoke with authority. "Both of you—now."

Grey shrugged and lay back, stretching his hands behind his head. Renzan turned away, a sneer on his face. "We're heading out." Magus finally faced them, and in the indistinct after-sunset's light, his irises looked almost jagged for a moment. "Let's make this quick."

-s- -s- -s-

Darkrai, Deoxys, and Deoxya were now making their way to Orre, while Jirachi had teleported with Rotom back to Spear Pillar so he could inform Arceus of the situation; she, Celebi, and Mew had then gone on to search for Ho-oh, another of the missing Legendaries. The party bound for the Northern Ruins was making swift progress, having crossed much of Sinnoh already, but in truth the haste with which they were nearing their destination only increased the intensity of the griping that was taking place.

"This is ridiculous," grumbled Darkrai for the fiftieth time. "How could they have laid out a more obvious trap?"

Deoxys groaned. "Get it through your head—we know they're planning something, but it doesn't matter! We're still going to go there and get Lord Lugia."

"What's the matter?" said Deoxya. "Scared to fight them?

"No!"

"Then there's nothing to worry about."

"Exactly," agreed Deoxys. "We'll get there, they'll spring their trap, and we'll deal with it."

At the instant, the earth ahead of them erupted into a violet flare with a noise like lightning striking metal. They swerved to avoid the blast, and faced skyward to their assailant—Mewtwo, his eyes blank and mindlessly staring. The Genetic Pokémon hovered down and came to rest, an impressive cloud of dust whipping up around his corded purple body and making his arrival quite dramatic. Darkrai, however, ruined the mood somewhat as he could not resist a laugh at the turn of events. "You two keep going," he said, readying himself. "I'll take care of this."

Deoxys nodded. "Be careful." He changed to Speed form, as did Deoxya, and the two shot away together in a split second.

Without missing a beat, Darkrai rose up—summoning his own dust cloud—and launched himself at Mewtwo, wrapping him in a crushing grapple as they collided. Mewtwo sent a psychically-powered charge through his body in an attempt to shock Darkrai off, but Darkrai held on until at last halting their midair tumble by slamming Mewtwo into the ground. He drew back and swiped his arm through the air to send a crescent of Dark energy at Mewtwo, but the attack glanced off the purple energy shield he set around himself. "There's that bubble again," muttered Darkrai, and he dove again at Mewtwo.

The battle grew fiercer as Darkrai hammered relentlessly at Mewtwo, who repeatedly conjured short-lived force fields to block the incoming blows while Darkrai accelerated, pressing at his foe from all sides and striking him again and again. The thoughtless Mewtwo was unable to keep up, and soon a lunge made it past his defenses. Darkrai grabbed him by the head, his large hand fitting easily over Mewtwo's cranium, and flung him to the earth. This time he followed, flying even with Mewtwo as he fell, drawing back his fist and waiting. The moment before they hit the ground, Darkrai punched Mewtwo squarely in the forehead and knocked him down the final meter twice as fast. Unconsciousness was immediate.

Darkrai stepped back, a satisfied smirk on his face. Then, a horrible thought struck him: _I have to carry him back to Spear Pillar_…

-s- -s- -s-

The Lieutenants were atop a sun-bathed mountain so high that clouds encircled it in a sea of soft white a considerable distance below where they stood. No paths led up its treacherous sides, and its barren peak rarely saw but one inhabitant—the great High Lord Ho-oh. He was a majestic red-and-gold bird with plumage that seemed to shimmer in every color as it caught the light, piercing eyes, and a long and crooked beak with all the sharpness of a spear—but as they saw now, however, those eyes were white where their fierce red irises should have been. A translucent barrier separated the Lieutenants from Ho-oh, who was currently locked in combat with Grey and Renzan while Magus stood back a ways, sustaining the field and watching the other two battle the crazed Legendary. The Lieutenants had not yet attempted to penetrate the barrier, and the three inside were unaware of their presence.

Grey leapt over a stream of fire directed at him by the Rainbow Pokémon as Renzan attacked from the other side. Ho-oh raised a multicolored wing to block the human-like being's kick—as before, all their attacks were physical—and then retailed with a snap of his beak; Renzan caught Ho-oh's jaws and prevented them from closing around his neck, and jumped back to land beside Grey. Together, they ran at Ho-oh, Grey leaping into the air and Renzan ducking to one side as the golden Pokémon breathed another torrent of flames at them.

Grey flipped and came down with a scything kick, striking Ho-oh in the head and knocking him the ground, and Renzan pounced before the High Lord could rise. He held tight to Ho-oh's long neck as the powerful bird thrashed, until, finally, he toppled over and lay still. When they saw he wasn't rising, Grey and Renzan advanced.

"I don't think so," snarled Mew as she rammed her head into the force field. She burst through amid a shower of sparks and caught Magus in the head with a flying lunge. The barrier vanished, and Jirachi and Celebi joined her as Magus regained his balance.

"You aren't taking Lord Ho-oh anywhere," said Mew as they positioned themselves between Ho-oh and their three adversaries.

Grey loped forward. "Fight you for him."

"Wait." Magus looked at the Lieutenants as if sizing them up.

Grey turned back to him. "What's the problem?"

"If you fight them now, they may kill you."

"How would it be any fun if there were no risks?" replied Grey with a wolfish smile.

"We can kill them some other time," said Renzan dismissively. "Why don't we just grab Ho-oh?"

"Not a chance," snapped Jirachi, assuming a ready stance.

"You Legendaries," laughed Grey. "You're always laying down the law, but what if we _do_ take Ho-oh and leave, just like last time?"

Jirachi glared. "Why don't you try it?"

Grey bared his teeth, and then in the blink of an eye he was in front of Jirachi, fist drawn back. Jirachi quickly raised an arm and halted the blow. Grey spun to the side and kicked at her head, but she ducked with time to spare watching Grey's leg sail overhead, and then struck him in the stomach with force enough to knock him back to where Renzan and Magus stood.

"Not bad," said Grey after a slight, winded cough, getting to his feet. "A little on the slow side, but strong."

"If I'm slow, what does that make you?" Jirachi built up an insubstantial sphere of light before her, and launched a hail of energy missiles. Grey pushed off the ground with one hand and cartwheeled out of the projectiles' path. Jirachi flew to intercept him, but Grey landed steadily and parried her strike, then retaliated with a series of jabs that forced Jirachi to retreat. He advanced, and Jirachi prepared for an incoming strike, but before he had reached her, Grey vanished.

Leagues faster than before, Grey appeared on side of Jirachi, then another, and then another, finally backhanding across the face as she whirled to face him. He followed and hit her again in the air with a swift knee.

The moment Jirachi was knocked the ground, Celebi immediately flew forward, a stormy mass of energy already charged in his hands, but Jirachi steadied herself and held up a hand. "I can handle this. He's fast, but his attacks aren't very powerful."

"That's true," said Grey with a smile. "But you don't know just how fast I am…"

"Speaking of which," growled Renzan, "why are we wasting our time here? Get Ho-oh, and we'll—"

"No," interrupted Magus. "We should return to the ruins now. We've been delayed too much already; we won't make it back in time if we take Ho-oh."

"Hah." Renzan sounded disgusted. "So we should have just taken him when they showed up, like I said."

He was gone the next second, and Magus the next. "We'll settle this some other time," said Grey, his tone nonchalant, and he too followed Renzan to the oblivion into which they seemed to disappear.

* * *

A/N: This chapter really is just one long skirmish, isn't it? Hah, skirmish. That sounds like Shroomish.

...So yeah. New chapter; read, review, tell your friends, etc., etc.

(I actually have the next chapter done and betaread—thanks Kyuu!—but I'm not going to post it because bumping this story to the top of the list is a limited privilege and pretty much the only way it gets even a few views, so I have to make the most of it with every update. Seriously, the lack of interest in this fic is making me sad... but I'll keep writing. I've technically finished it all already, anyway.)


	4. The Forest

It wasn't long before the Northern Ruins of Orre saw Deoxya and Deoxys snap into visibility among its fallen stones, both returning to Normal form and looking warily around. A chill wind blew through the silent ruins and brought with it a low moan, as if the spirits of the castle's ancient inhabitants were calling out from beyond their graves. The decrepit remains were, however, apparently deserted—as far as the living were concerned, at any rate; there was no sign of Lugia or of his captors.

"We'll deal with the trap, huh?" said Deoxys. "I'm actually starting to wonder…"

"We can handle it," Deoxya reassured him.

"We are a regular unstoppable duo, aren't we?"

"There's no need to worry. Things will be back to normal before we know it."

"On that note…"

"Yeah we should probably do what we came here for…"

"See Lord Lugia anywhere? I can't seem to sense him."

"He's not here." They whirled around and beheld Grey, Magus, and Renzan each standing on one of three tall pillars. It was Magus who had spoken.

Neither Pokémon was surprised to see them. "Then where is he? Come on?" challenged Deoxys. "I'll get the information by force. You're fast, but I'm faster."

"Well now," said Grey. "I'd love to put that to the test, but some of us"—he threw Magus a dirty look—"have other plans for you."

"You told us Lord Lugia was here," said Deoxya, glaring at them. "Why lit? You needed us all the way out here just to attack us?"

"He was here," laughed Renzan, "when we told you that!"

"Wait…" Deoxys had his eyes closed. "I can feel it. It's faint, but he's definitely still here, and alive."

Deoxya had already shifted to Attack form. "Well, at least we didn't waste the trip. Now I think it's time we finished these jokers off."

"So you can sense energy signatures," said Magus. "No doubt that ability will be missed by your friends when you're gone."

"Sorry, not really planning on going anywhere." Deoxya stood ready alongside Deoxys.

"Once again, you don't have a choice!" Renzan raised his right arm as Grey and Magus did the same, and the motion was accompanied by a deep rumble within the earth. Both Pokémon felt an unseen force cinch tight around their bodies, immobilizing them completely, as glowing purple trails began to carve themselves into the ground underfoot. The lines curved, split, and intersected, all the while putting a sharp sound like blades on ice into the air, and they formed a large circle inset with intricate bands and spidery patterns.

Renzan grinned as ghostly rivulets of light began to flicker within the lines of the circle. "Good-bye, insects!"

A vast violet flame sprang up seemingly from the very depths of the earth, filling the circle and swallowing Deoxys and Deoxya whole amid the deafening noise of roaring fire. It spiraled skyward, spitting embers at the sky; then it fell and vanished, taking with it not only the luminous circle but everything in the entire space it had occupied.

-s- -s- -s-

They flew through a vortex of color, sound, and twisted shapes. The purple flames were replaced by an unfathomable tunnel through which they seemed to be plummeting headfirst on their journey to — _Where are we going?_ wondered Deoxys, his thoughts broadcast to Deoxya.

_We aren't dead, I know that much._

They sailed through one last swirl of nothing and abruptly halted. Then, the now-black surroundings split apart like a parted sheet of water, gradually fading and revealing a forested area. They turned slowly where they stood, each surveying the new landscape. Overhead, serene white clouds drifted lazily through the sun-soaked sky, a gentle breeze rustled the plentiful leaves, and the flow of a nearby brook was faintly audible—there wasn't so much as a remote threat in sight. There was even a Noctowl hooting peacefully…right above them?

Deoxys craned his neck to gaze up at the Owl Pokémon, an average-sized bird covered in a slightly scruffy brown coat dotted with black markings, who was perched on a high branch. "Hello?" he called. "Can you tell us where we are?"

The Noctowl cocked his crested head at a near-impossible angle, and his deep red eyes affixed on them. "Johto," he replied. "This is the Ilex Forest."

"Johto?" Deoxya turned to Deoxys, puzzled. "So…they just sent us over the ocean?" Deoxys gave an equally perplexed shrug.

"Who are you?" queried the Noctowl. "Where did you come from?'

"I'm Deoxya; he's Deoxys," responded Deoxya. "We were in the Orre region, across the sea, but we were transported here somehow."

"Ah, I see—you are Legendary Pokémon." The Noctowl spread his wings and nimbly fluttered to a lower limb for a better look. "I am called Knell. I will be your guide."

"Guide?" repeated Deoxys. "Thanks, but we're just going to fly up and head back to Orre."

"You cannot simple fly out of the Ilex Forest." Knell gestured skyward with one wing. "These woods are under the protection of Lord Celebi, and only at certain locations may you enter or exit."

"But we were recently with Lord Celebi, in Sinnoh," said Deoxys. "Shouldn't he be able to allow us through?"

"He isn't here in the forest? Well, I wouldn't know about that," said Knell, "but I assure you the fastest way out is to follow me."

"All right, then," said Deoxya. "You're our guide." Knell nodded, and took off.

"Mewtwo," spat Darkrai as if it were a curse. "I…_hate_…Mewtwo…"

He had Mewtwo slung over one shoulder and was making his painfully slow way back to Spear Pillar—it was the fastest he could go given his passenger. Every minute of the journey was stretching itself into an agonizing eternity.

"Maybe I should just kill him…"

The pair of DNA Pokémon skimmed over the forest floor, keeping pace with Knell as he weaved among the branches overhead. The noontime sun was directly above them; this struck Deoxys as odd, and he mentioned it to Deoxya as they flew.

"You're right," she mused. "The time zone's different, obviously, but…does it really account for this big of a jump? I though it was morning."

"My reckoning of the distance must be off…"

"Tell me," said Knell, "why is Lord Celebi in Sinnoh?"

"A strange energy began to affect the moon a while ago," Deoxys explained. "We think we've discovered something of a plot surrounding it, and we were in Sinnoh pursuing three beings we believe are connected to this 'Reverse Moon.'"

"Beings? Of what sort?"

"Not Pokémon, not humans," said Deoxya. "Although they look human, and they have powers a lot like ours."

"I see." Knell was silent for a moment. "I haven't noticed anything strange about the moon myself, but if what you say is true, I know someone who may be able to help you." He abruptly banked left and alighted on a conveniently located branch, and they stopped as well.

"Who, exactly?" said Deoxys quizzically.

Knell only held up his wind, pointing off into the forest. "Simply move in that direction. I will go no further."

"And if we got lost?" Deoxya spoke with a raised eyebrow in her voice.

"You won't."

Deoxya half-shrugged and set off in the direction Knell indicated, Deoxya right behind him. As they went, they entered a swirling mist that grew denser the further they progressed, and the sunlight was lost in the whiteness. Soon, the air was heavy with moisture. Light from an indeterminate source caught the tiny water droplets of the mist, creating shimmering rainbows throughout the area. Everything shone; the mist was now a spectral white and even the trees seemed to emanate a faint, liquid, blue-green glow.

"Shiny," muttered Deoxys, looking around.

"I wonder who he wants us to meet." Deoxya examined one of the luminescent tree trunks. "I don't see any regular forest Pokémon, so I'd guess the one who lives here's…"

"A Legendary?"

"Most likely."

"Actually, I can't sense anyone in this entire section of forest…"

For the second time, he and Deoxya turned swiftly at the sound of a new voice behind them. "So I'm nobody?" This time, however, the newcomer was not one of their three enemies.

Stepping out from among the trees, silent as a ghost, was a graceful canine Pokémon with skin of an almost translucent aqua hue, a flowing violet mane, and brilliant, streamers trailing from her body. The mist seemed to wrap around her like a blanket or cloak, and it was obvious how she had approached them unnoticed.

"Suicune! I didn't know you lived here!" exclaimed Deoxya. She wrapped her arms around Suicune's neck and gave her a squeeze. "How are you? It's been such a long time!"

"I'm well," said Suicune, smiling. "It hasn't been that long—I'm surprised you're back so soon, actually."

"Special circumstances," said Deoxys, "but she was gone a while all the same. Hello, Lord Suicune."

"Lord Deoxys." Suicune tilted her head upward and gave him a playful haughty look. "Didn't I tell you to call me _Lady_ Suicune?"

"Perhaps," replied Deoxys with an equally unconvincing air of indifference. "I see your talent for hiding your presence is still strong."

Suicune shot him a look clearly intended to mean something like _That or your energy senses just suck_ before turning back to Deoxya. "However long you were gone, it's great to see you again. What brings you here?"

Together the two of them presented Suicune with a condensed version of the events that had taken place since Mew had first noticed the Reverse Moon. "A Noctowl named Knell said you could help us," concluded Deoxys.

"Well…" said Suicune, a mischievous smile spreading across her elegant features. "I might just be able to help you…but I'll need you to do something for me first."

"And what might that be?"

Suicune turned and took several steps into the vast expanse of forest, her feet making virtually no sound as they padded against the grass, then looked over her shoulder. "Follow me."

Suicune led them to the edge of a great chasm, the bottom of which was so far below them that it was not visible—though the depression was open to the sky, the tall trees surrounding it coupled with the gradual dip of the sun meant only a small portion at the top of one side received direct light. The hole was roughly circular, and its sides had a slight incline to them. "Thousands of years ago, an enormous meteor impacted here," explained Suicune. "There's a legend that says a certain stone lies at the bottom of this crater…"

"What kind of stone?" asked Deoxya.

"The 'imbued-with-an-ancient-power' kind," replied Suicune, a gleam in her eye. "It's called the Aurorastone in the legend. It's a very special piece of rock which I could use to increase my powers of purification and symbiosis with nature." She gazed down into the pitch-blackness below. "With it, I could easily neutralize negative energy affecting even the moon, and I've been trying to get it for some time besides."

Deoxys sighed. "And you haven't been able to because…?"

By way of an answer, Suicune spat a beam of irised energy into the crater. It rushed down at a blazing speed, its illumination on the dirt walls gradually growing dimmer, and eventually it winked out of sight. Suicune looked sidelong at Deoxys. "We won't even hear the explosion. You think I'm just going to jump in? Supposing I didn't die upon landing, how would I get back out? What's the matter, anyway—have you forgotten how to fly?"

"All right, all right," said Deoxys. "Point made."

"Come on," said Deoxya, hovering out and floating over the crater. "Let's get to it."

Together they began their descent into the depths of the depression, Deoxys sending a steady pulse of light from the gem in his chest to provide visibility in at least their immediate vicinity. "It doesn't make sense," said Deoxya as they went. "Why just transport us away? It's true we're delaying now, but we could fly back Speed in half an hour."

"It certainly is strange," agreed Deoxys. "And there's still the time issue…"

"A really slow teleporting ability?" suggested Deoxya with a shrug.

Still the plunged downward. As the errant reflected light from above was reduced almost to nothing, Deoxya lit her own crystal, softening the eerie glow of Deoxys's purple light. After a few minutes more of silent travel, the wall began to level out, and, after slowly curving more and more, became parallel to the mouth of the crater. They had reached the bottom.

A ways ahead of them, at the very center of the basin, was a strong, dimensionless glow. Moving closer, Deoxya saw it to be a smooth, polished stone, clear but colored from within by pulses of a vibrant blue light. She picked it up, and as she turned it in her hands, a rainbow—_Or an aurora,_ she thought—of colors played across its surface despite the dimness and single hue of the light shining on it.

Deoxys gazed laconically at the Aurorastone. "And back up we go."

* * *

A/N: And here's that other update for you.

Just why the heck _did_ our antagonist trio send Deoxys and Deoxya to Johto? Will Darkri-or Mewtwo, for that matter-survive the trip to Spear Pillar? What are Jirachi, Mew, and Celebi even doing now? Find out in the next exciting chapter...!


	5. Divided, Conquered?

Rain lashed relentlessly at the human town called Astraea Village. The normally cheery hillside enclave was painted gray this dreary afternoon as the howling wind blew waves of dark storm clouds overhead. No one was outside, shutters were drawn, and it looked like the town would be going to sleep early. A solitary flower petal, caught by the ferocious gale and lifted from the grass, drifted unsteadily upward through the rain. It swirled once around the head of a figure standing on the air itself high above the village. Then, with the snap of a hand, the petal vanished—crushed to dust.

Renzan's face was split by a vicious grin; his features given a ghastly tint by the pallid glow emanating from the clouds. _He'll come running once I throw my energy around._ His face was alight with malice, and he gave of a powerful aura of murderous intent. _I can't wait._

-s- -s- -s-

Having reached Spear Pillar at last, Darkrai let Mewtwo slide unceremoniously from his shoulder and collapse to the ground. He pointed ineffectually at the unconscious Legendary. "Next time something like this happens, you die." Folding his arms, he leaned against one of the many crumbling pedestals that dotted the ruins. He was seriously considering not rejoining Deoxys and Deoxya. _I'm beginning to wonder if the Reverse Moon and those three are even connected to her…_

His thoughts were interrupted by the sensing of a strong pulse of energy that flared up in the far east. He threw up his arms in exasperation. "What the _hell._ Great. And I'm the closest one." Giving Mewtwo one more glare, Darkrai took to the skies, heading east.

In the Hall of Origin, Arceus shook his head and sighed. "What _did_ you do to deserve such terrible hardships, Darkrai…What _did_ you do…"

-s- -s- -s-

Jirachi, Mew, and Celebi were making their way to Orre when an echo of the surge reached them. "It's one of them for sure," said Celebi, stopping as he felt the energy and gazing into the distance. "He's…east of Sinnoh?"

"They move fast," said Mew. "It seems like he's alone, so what should we do? Split up?"

"I think I could take on all three of them," said Jirachi seriously. "You two could still continue on and meet up with Deoxya, Deoxys, and Darkrai even if he isn't alone."

"If both the others _aren't_ with him, at least one of us should keep heading to Orre," suggested Mew.

"Lord Mew, Jirachi, and Celebi." Sudden vibrations in the air began to rattle them as a slow, booming voice like a rumble of thunder issued from behind them. It was the sound of a continental plate grating against another. "Please move away, or you may be seriously injured."

"What—" Celebi turned along with Mew and Jirachi to find a flaming energy stream of titanic proportions bearing down on them. Immediately, they dashed from the spot, conjuring force fields as they flew, and they cleared the immediate area just in time for the fireball to impact the forested ground and erupt into a raging inferno that roared skyward, splitting when it reached their shields. Even with their barriers raised, the force of the explosion buffeted them back a considerable distance. As the flames subsided and they lowered their energy shields, a shadow fell over the Lieutenants.

-s- -s- -s-

Darkrai caught sight of Renzan as he neared Astraea Village. He immediately increased his speed, streamlining his body and slicing through the rain, which was falling in heavy sheets now. Renzan flexed his hands as Darkrai approached, his whole body coiled and ready to snap forward. As Darkrai closed in, it seemed he could wait no longer. With a rough shout, he took off, moving through the air as if suspended in a single stride.

A torrent of water burst violently outward in all directions as Renzan and Darkrai collided, locked hands, and spiraled through the howling storm, each struggling for dominance. Darkrai wrenched one arm free from Renzan's vice-like grip and, cinching his own hand around his foe's ankle, hurled him away into the distance. Renzan righted himself as he sailed through the downpour, gradually drifting to a halt, but Darkrai was already upon him, and he had to duck swiftly to avoid an incoming blow. Retaliating with a sweeping kick, he forced Darkrai to retreat.

"I thought you couldn't fly." Darkrai had to shout to be audible over the wind. He kept his body tensed, poised to enter the next clash.

Renzan laughed, a short, coarse bark. "When it's raining, all my powers increase. I'm one with this very storm!" There was a blinding flash as a sheet of lightning coursed through the clouds, accompanied by a deafening clap of thunder. Darkrai dove at Renzan before the rolling sound had faded. Renzan avoided his initial lunge, moving quickly and avoiding the flurry of jabs that followed. Finally, he halted Darkrai's claw a centimeter from his face with own hands clamped around Darkrai's wrist. He wrenched heavily to one side, but Darkrai's leg snapped out even as he tumbled to the side, catching Renzan in the shoulder, and the not-human recoiled, unable to press his advantage. As Darkrai floated back, Renzan shook himself and drew back a hand, palm flat, his arm obscuring one of his mismatched eyes. "Red Excalibur!"

He swung the limb diagonally down, and from it leapt a crescent of iridescent, crimson energy. The scythe sliced through the air, bisecting even the raindrops as it went and moving so fast that Darkrai barely had time to prepare to redirect it. But as the glowing crescent reached him, he felt a force behind it disproportionate to its size. With effort, he succeeded in deflecting it. Before the glowing imprint from the glow had even left his eyes, Renzan had moved to him and stuck him open-handed in the chest. Not allowing himself to be pushed by the strike, Darkrai forced Renzan back with a diagonal sweep of one arm.

The Red Excalibur impacted the ground some distance away from the village, but the residents of Astraea couldn't miss the tremendous sound of its explosion, nor the accompanying shockwave. Many stepped out into the rain to see what had happened. Renzan spotted them, and a terrible glee lit his eyes as he raised his arm. Darkrai swore and dashed at Renzan, but he was too late. Another red wave flared to life, sailing down at those scattered below. Changing course, Darkrai flew in front of the energy, ducking his head behind the ridge of spikes on his chest and crossing his arms. The clouds were lit with a pulsing scarlet glow as the Red Excalibur lost form and burst into an explosion.

Darkrai coughed as the smoke around him swiftly cleared, driven apart by the storm. Judging from the dull ache he felt, he supposed the blast had battered him, but hadn't caused serious harm. Folding his arms, Renzan hovered closer, his soaked black hair shimmering. "Weak," he spat. "You're weak." He reached Darkrai's altitude and halted, only a short distance away. "If you keep sacrificing yourself to protect _them_, pretty soon you'll be dead!"

"Wrong." Darkrai narrowed his gaze, and in an instant he was a hair's breadth from Renzan, one arm drawn back with a swirl of darkness forming around his hand. "That would be you!" He slammed his fist into Renzan's jaw, the energy charged in his palm bursting outward into a black nova of light. Renzan was knocked straight down, falling from the sky like a shooting star and slamming into the unforgiving ground with an almighty crash. For a moment, only the sounds of the storm and the shouts of the people below could be heard.

With a drawn-out roar of rage, Renzan released an energy blast that obliterated the earth around him like a bomb in a flash of blinding white. He rose up amid the flares until he reached the height at which they had been battling, and with the next flash of lightning, Darkrai saw a steady trail of red running from Renzan's mouth and down his neck. Renzan put a hand to his jaw, and, with a sickening crunch, wrenched it back into place. He glared murderously at Darkrai, undiluted hatred lighting his eyes. "You…" He spat blood. "I'll kill you!"

"That's news," said Darkrai, his sarcasm exquisite, and he again readied himself. "Bring it on!"

-s- -s- -s-

Looming over Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi was a Pokémon yellow and white in color with geometrically patterned black markings and dots of brown, blue, and gray; a Pokémon of such colossal size that trees and other foliage grew on its shoulders and back. It was roughly humanoid, though its head was like an elongated stripe that curved over the top of its body and was almost indistinguishable from its enormous torso. Its arms and legs were proportionally thinner but such a comparison meant little with a figure taller than a stack of skyscrapers and immensely wider. The Lieutenants couldn't even see the sun past the titan's gargantuan frame.

"Ruh-Regigigas," said Jirachi, gaping. "I…thought it was a mountain when we flew over…"

Regigigas spoke. His voice actually shook the ground; it was so powerful, it reached the Mew and others, far away as they were, with perfect clarity. "I apologize for attacking you. Unfortunately, I will likely do so again momentarily."

"Why?" Mew shouted so he would be able to hear her.

"You cannot see at this distance, but my body is covered with Unown. They are possessed." Regigigas slowly raised one massive arm, his palm open to Celebi, Jirachi, and Mew. "Though they are unable to bring my mind under the same control they are, by latching on to me they are manipulating my body like a puppet." He paused. "Again, I apologize. In a moment, I will release another energy attack."

Indeed, from Regigigas's hand leapt another fireball. Spreading apart, the Lieutenants allowed the gigantic projectile to soar between them; it sailed toward the horizon line, finally detonating nearly a kilometer behind them. "What can we do to help?" shouted Celebi, trying not to be distracted by the devastation over his shoulder as the blast decimated a wide swath of the forest.

"Perhaps you can approach and see if you can prise the Unown from me." Regigigas lowered his outstretched limb and was still. "You are in no immediate danger. While I cannot resist the Unown by force, I am naturally slow until I have been active for a fairly large amount of time, and my strength is also limited for that period—and the Unown can do nothing to change this."

Celebi glanced at the other two. Jirachi looked vaguely queasy at the notion of getting any closer to Regigigas than absolutely necessary, but Mew nodded. "Let's do it." With that, they began to approach Regigigas.

-s- -s- -s-

Suicune was waiting at the lip of the crater when Deoxys and Deoxya emerged, the Aurorastone in Deoxya's grasp. "That's it," Suicune said as Deoxya set it on the ground before her. "The Aurorastone."

"What's so special about this rock, again?" said Deoxys skeptically. "I don't sense any particularly great energy in it."

"It's not supposed to make me physically powerful," sniffed Suicune. "It will strengthen some of my unique abilities." She stepped forward and placed one paw on the stone.

"Now, for my end of the bargain. Let's see what I can do about that moon…" She closed her eyes, but not a moment later she opened them and gave Deoxys and Deoxya an odd look. "I hate to break it to you, but…there's nothing wrong with the moon."

"What?" said Deoxys. "That's impossible."

Suicune raised an eyebrow. "Can't you sense it for yourself?"

Concentrating for a moment, Deoxys let his mind float from the physical into an insubstantial realm of swirling currents, ebbing pulses, and low bass thrums of energy. A second passed, and then he turned to Deoxya in astonishment. "I don't feel anything."

"Neither do I," confirmed Deoxya. "How…?"

"You sure have your heads on straight?" Suicune asked skeptically. "You also said Celebi was in Sinnoh…I didn't say anything about it at the time, but I'm fairly sure he's actually still here in the forest."

Deoxya and Deoxys looked at each other, both perplexed.

"And another thing," said Suicune, "why were you making half a year sound like forever? You've been away a lot longer than that before."

"Wait…" said Deoxya slowly. "Do you mean how long I was gone, in outer space?"

Suicune looked at her askance. "Yes."

"Half a year?" said Deoxys, surprised. "But she left—" He stopped abruptly, looking thunderstruck.

"Over three years ago," completed Deoxya grimly.

"Incredible," said Deoxys. "

Suicune seemed even less convinced of their sanity. "What are you talking about?"

"They sent us back in time."

Suicune's eyes widened, and she was undoubtedly about to detail just how crazy they were when someone behind them spoke. "Well, well, well…"

They turned to find a Pokémon similar in appearance to Suicune loping out of the forest. His sleek coat was yellow in color with jagged black markings like lightning bolts, and he had a crooked tail that had a similar shape. On his back billowed what looked almost like a storm cloud, and two deadly fangs jutted from his upper lip. Stopping halfway across the clearing leading to the crater's edge, where the trio stood, Raikou stretched out his body, leg muscles rippling subtly. "So you finally found it." His voice was confident and carried a measure of haughtiness that spoke of the formidable powers its owner possessed.

Suicune's eyes narrowed. "What are _you_ doing here?"

"Come now," said Raikou. His tone was even, but there was a dangerous glint in his eyes. "I can't drop by to say hello?"

"Skip it," said Suicune shortly. "What do you want?"

Raikou paused. His gaze roamed from Suicune to Deoxys and Deoxya and finally to the Aurorastone at Suicune's feet. His expression became hungry. "I want…that stone."

"For what?" snapped Suicune, Raikou's answer clearly no surprise to her. "It won't do you any good."

A second new voice came from their right. "Not so." A regal-looking Pokémon hued in brown and red emerged from the trees' shadows. He had braces of an uncertain material around each of his four limbs, and wisps of smoke seemed to trail from him, matching Raikou's and Suicune's cloud-like manes.

"Entei," said Raikou, a look of distaste crossing his face. "I wasn't aware we were having a party."

"Oh, great," Deoxys muttered. "This isn't going to end well."

Suicune addressed Entei. "It's called the _Aurora_stone for a reason."

"That's only one name for it," responded Entei, his tone far less aggressive than Raikou's. "It is also known as the Eruptionstone—"

"And the Lightningstone," interrupted Raikou. "Stay out of this, Entei, or I'll take you down too."

"_Too?_" repeated Suicune with a sort of confrontational incredulity, advancing. "You've never beat me once, and that's not going to change any time soon." Raikou roared and charged at her. Suicune slid aside and avoided his lunge, then prepared to retaliate, but Raikou shot right past and leapt towards the Aurorastone.

Deoxya rammed Raikou in the side, knocking him out of the air. He hit the earth, tumbled once, then sprang nimbly back to all fours and skidded to a halt. He growled low in his throat as Deoxya faced him. "Not a chance," she said. "You'll never get that stone." Suicune made to join Deoxya, but Entei sprang easily into her path. "It's been a while since we last fought, and I'm confident I've improved," he said. "Let us battle again!" He crouched low, poised to spring, and Suicune did the same.

Sighing, Deoxys formed two of his tentacles into a hand and picked up the Aurorastone, then retreated to a safe distance. "Count me out," he said, though no one was listening. "Why don't I just stand here and hold on to this rock…"

* * *

A/N: Regigigas only 12 feet tall, Pokédex? I don't think so.

I can't think of much to say about this one. It's about time Darkrai had a good one-on-one fight, don't you think? Speaking of fighting, the Legendary Dogs/Cats/Gerbils/Whatevers have made their long overdue appearance! Feel free to imagine Entei's dialogue spoken in Dan Green's voice. As for Raikou...Ian McShane. Suicune? I can't say. Jennifer Hale, perhaps? 


	6. Le Ciel Gris

Lightning lit the clouds from above as the storm raged on, although no forks were sent into view, and the winds were powerful but not enough to buffet the combatants through the air. Everything paled in comparison to the tremendous volume of the rain that cascading from the sky. The deluge was unrelenting; had Astraea Village not been built on a slope, it likely would have been flooded. As it was, those who were watching the unfolding duel from below were positively drenched.

Renzan was attacking with far greater ferocity than before, and Darkrai had to tighten his focus to keep up. Every time he parried a blow, Renzan would take advantage of his position to grab hold and throw him, and though there wasn't anything he needed to worry about running into, getting slung repeatedly through the turbulent air was becoming disconcerting. Darkrai was beginning to feel exhausted, but he couldn't fathom how such a relative shirt period of exertion could have tired him so much. As Renzan drew back following a flurry of jabs, a sheet of water propelled by the gale collided with Darkrai, and as the rain washed over him, he felt an unpleasant swoop in his gut accompanied by an abrupt and alarming dip in his energy reserved.

_It's the rain_, he realized. Somehow the downpour was sapping his strength just as it mysteriously multiplied Renzan's. _It's raining for miles… How can I get away from it?_

Renzan didn't give him much time to consider options, diving at him again with his outstretched arm acting like a spear. Darkrai shifted nimbly to one side to dodge the stab, and then the two took off in a flash, flying parallel courses and exchanging blows. Renzan swerved off course after one last strike at Darkrai's head, momentarily streaking away through the rain but whirling and loosing another Red Excalibur wave at Darkrai. Darkrai batted it away with his forearm, but the recoil nearly knocked him over. He shook himself, growling a curse. _I can't finish him in this rain!_

Standing atop his nonexistent perch in the air, Renzan again faced the town. He drew back his left arm as if about to snap it forward to snatch something, his fingers spread. A green orb of light with a brilliant white core began to flicker in and out of substance at his fingertips, quickly becoming stable. With his lips curled into the same vicious smile, he shouted, "Green Ex—"

Darkrai collided with Renzan, knocking him off his aerial balance and dragging him up and away from the village, the energy orb vanishing the instant it lost contact with Renzan's fingers. Renzan broke free and aimed a kick which Darkrai caught, proceeding to return his foe's earlier favor by heaving up. He caught up with Renzan as he tumbled upwards and elbowed him sharply, halting his momentum; he moved in again but Renzan let Red Excalibur fly and Darkrai was forced to back away. Winded, Renzan rushed at him regardless, and the battle went on.

-s- -s- -s-

Raikou's vermilion eyes almost seemed to glow as he padded slowly back and forth before Deoxya. "Why does this concern you?" He tilted his head to one side. "With the Lightningstone, I would have such power… and if you help me get it…" His voice had a subtle note beneath the force now, each word a lure.

"No, thanks," said Deoxya flatly. "To put it simply, Suicune found it first. Besides that, I know she won't use it for anything dangerous."

"Fool." Raikou's voice returned to its usual confident tone. "Why would I misuse its power? I only want to defeat Suicune."

"Sorry. I don't make deals with the likes of you."

Raikou roared, a tremendous noise that sounded like nothing so much as a thunderclap, and Deoxya felt the sound jarring the inside of her chest. The Thunder Pokémon dashed forward, slashing his vicious claws at Deoxya's throat. She jerked her head back, and Raikou's swipe missed by a hair's breadth. Moving back and shifting to Attack form, Deoxya angled all four of her tentacles inward and, with a flash, a crackling mass of energy sprang to life before her chest. With a surge of will she sent the projectile hurtling at Raikou.

As the deadly light flew towards him, Raikou crouched with his forepaws, keeping his hind legs straight; the next instant, from the swirling, nebulous clouds upon his back leapt a dazzling array of lightning. The bolts burned away the very air and utterly obliterated Deoxya's energy attack, moving at a near-instantaneous speed, and Deoxya was left with no time to defend herself. Several bolts caught her, striking her torso and throwing her violently backwards. She tumbled through the air, impacting the ground once only to bounce aloft again until she finally reached the lip of the crater and disappeared.

Raikou straightened and turned towards Suicune and Entei, but found his path blocked by Deoxys, who folded his arms. "Going somewhere? Your fight isn't over."

"_Isn't over?_" repeated Raikou. He laughed threateningly. "If she's even still alive, she's lucky. Now get out of—" He stopped abruptly, stiffening as a shadow fell over him.

Deoxya rose from the crater, floating up until she was silhouetted against the sun. Raikou whirled around, but Deoxya's wave of energy slammed into him and knocked him flat to the ground before he could face her. Deoxya descended, her features again becoming visible as she moved away from the brilliant disc of light behind her. Her body still showed signs of the trauma left by Raikou's blast of electricity, but the wounds were healing rapidly, and Deoxya didn't look remotely concerned. She touched down as Raikou struggled to his feet, and they re-engaged.

Deoxys let his attention shift to Suicune and Entei's clash. The two were dancing around each other, keeping a distance between them and volleying elemental blasts one moment only to lock forepaws and begin struggling to force their snapping jaws forward the next. As Deoxys turned, Entei succeeded in throwing Suicune off-balance, knocking her onto her side with a thrust of his powerful front legs. Before Suicune could recover, he formed a swirling ball of purple flame before his mouth and propelled it at her. The projectile struck Suicune in her exposed abdomen and exploded, slinging her across the ground.

From where she lay, Suicune fired a sparkling beam of energized ice at Entei, leaving him no choice but to leap back. Suicune got to her feet with a wince but wasted no time in closing the gap between them. Entei avoided her first strike, but she caught him the leg with her next, and pressed her advantage with a swift bite to his neck. Entei roared and swung his head sharply, dislodging Suicune, who rose immediately and bit at him again. This time, however, Entei had anticipated the move and batted her head away with his paw. As they separated, each drawing back and assuming the same crouched stance they had begun their standoff with, a dark stain was spreading through the thick fur of Entei's neck—though the wound, it seemed, was shallow.

The two Legendaries took off, bounding into the trees at the edge of the clearing, which were soon lit by the flares of the energy attacks they volleyed back and forth. Entei was the aggressor, rapidly forming and launching balls of purple fire even as he moved among the trees; Suicune dodged with quick ducks and weaves, returning fire only occasionally. The Volcano Pokémon pursued her until it seemed she was cornered against of thicket of trees glowing close together, but as he summoned another condensed fireball, this one larger than the rest, she sprang up and pushed herself off the trunk. She sailed over Entei, landing behind him with a brilliant glow of energy already at her mouth. Entei spun to face her lightning-quick reflexes, and both let loose their attacks.

Entei's red-and-violet ball of flame met the lance of spectrum-colored ice Suicune had released, and the projectiles glanced off each other. Still at close range, the combatants fired again, and this time their energies met head-on, locking together as Suicune and Entei each struggled to win the contest of strength. The direct elemental opposites, rather than being nullified, seemed only to grow more powerful as the streams continued to surge, and even at his distance Deoxys had to brace forward to stay upright against the gale being created.

Raikou turned toward his two counterparts as they began their clash of energies. The moment he had absorbed the situation, he leapt at Deoxya with greater ferocity than before, his scything paw catching her in the side of the head and momentarily stunning her. The Thunder Pokémon took off in the blink of an eye, streaking across the clearing and into the forest outskirts, running directly at Suicune. With all her attention focused on her contest with Entei, she was unaware of his approach even as Raikou sprang at her, stretching out his claws like the sickles of a reaper toward its deathbed prey—his lunge was aimed at her throat.

Entei saw him. His eyes widened in shock, time paused for a fraction of a second, and then Entei whipped his head to the side and sent the full terrible force of his elemental beam at Raikou. The concentrated torrent of flames struck Raikou in midair and bore him aloft briefly, the Legendary roaring in agony as the energy seared him.

Even as Entei's attack hit Raikou, Suicune's hit Entei. The beam of energized ice hit him in the shoulder and knocked him off his feet with tremendous force. As he collapsed, his mouth was jarred shut and his stream of fire dissipated, leaving Raikou to crash heavily down, already unconscious before he met with the merciless earth.

Registering what had happened, Suicune went to where Entei lay, still awake. "Why did you do that?" she sounded bemused.

Entei chuckled, wincing as he did so. "Somehow I did not expect _thank you_ to be the first thing that came to your mind."

"I thought you wanted the Aurorastone."

"Not if it means using such dishonorable tactics," replied Entei. "And I have power enough without that stone. Besides, if you died, who would I work to surpass?"

Suicune rolled her eyes. "Listen to you, getting all sentimental. Well, I trust you'll be able to move before _he_"_—_ she jerked her head in Raikou's direction—"wakes up?"

"I should be." Entei gave a small nod.

Deoxya had joined them. "Are you okay?" she asked Suicune.

"I'm fine," responded Suicune unconcernedly. "What about you?"

"You know I can keep up with Raikou," laughed Deoxya. She addressed Deoxys, who had also come over. "Now, what are we going to do? Go and warn our past selves?"

"It doesn't work that way," said Suicune. At their odd looks, she snapped, "I live in Celebi's forest, all right? I know a little about time travel. If you were never warned by your future selves, that means you aren't going to warn your past selves." She shook her head. "I can't believe I'm buying your crazy story."

"Well, how are we going to get back?"

Deoxys smiled one of his mouthless smiles. "I have an idea..."

-s- -s- -s-

Mew grasped the Unown tightly and heaved with all her strength, but the rune-shaped Pokémon would not budge. The Unown were identical in their black, metallic exterior and single large eye, though each had one of twenty-eight different shapes. The one Mew was attempting to pry from Regigigas's body resembled the letter T. Its eye, which should have been dotted by a dark pupil, was completely colored in a blank, milky white. A ways over, hovering before the same massive arm Mew was, Jirachi and Celebi were having no more luck than she. The Symbol Pokémon were stuck fast.

"Can't we just blast them off?" said Celebi. "I'm sure Regigigas could take it."

"Unfortunately, you cannot." Close as they were to him, Regigigas's voice was near deafening. "The Unown have immense shielding capabilities, so any attack of yours strong enough to penetrate their barrier would surely kill me. Their nearly perfect defensive power combined with my strength has, I am afraid, created a true instrument of destruction."

As the Lieutenants continue working to remove the Unown, a great tremor traveled the expanse of Regigigas's frame, followed quickly by a second, larger one. Then, abruptly, Regigigas began to stride forward. Mew, Celebi, and Jirachi floated back as his speed increased. "Uh...Regigigas?" said Jirachi worriedly as they back backed up faster and faster.

Regigigas was silent for a moment, and when he spoke his words were heavy. "I am sorry... I have reached my full speed and strength. Now, I fear you may not be able to stop me without killing me." His stride continued to lengthen until the Lieutenants were forced to move aside. Huge areas of the forest far below them were crushed with every step the Colossal Pokémon took; a wide swath of devastation was left as he went. And beyond the horizon, the Lieutenants knew, was a large human city toward which Regigigas was hurtling like an ever-accelerating runaway train.

"What do we do?" Jirachi watched as Regigigas began to charge in earnest, yelling over the sound of explosively loud footfalls. "We have to stop him!"

"_We_ don't!" shouted back Celebi. Then, off the uncomprehending looks the other two gave him: "Master Arceus can do it without killing him!"

Mew nodded and conjured her Azure Flute, but a moment before she could raise the instrument and begin to play, it flew from her grasp as if pulled from her by an invisible hand. A moment later, Celebi's and Jirachi's Flutes appeared and were similarly snatched away in rapid succession. The three objects sailed a distance away before halting abruptly at the hand of Magus, and then vanishing as he swept them inward.

-s- -s- -s-

Each minute Darkrai fought brought further waves of exhaustion; he was truly struggling to keep up with Renzan now, and was sustaining increasingly worse injuries as Renzan danced around him and struck from every side. _This is bad._ Renzan's foot lashed out at his head and he ducked to one side, retaliating with an inaccurate spread of energy pulse fired with a sweep of one arm. _If I can get him out of the rain, he'll fall. _Renzan had easily avoided the projectiles and was closing in. He drew back a hand and snapped it forward, firing a Green Excalibur sphere; Darkrai batted it away with difficulty, and it shot off and vanished among the clouds. Renzan readied another charge.

Darkrai's eyes snapped wide. _Of course!_

For the first time since somewhere after the midpoint of their battle, Darkrai attacked. Renzan was caught completely off guard, losing his hold on the emerald energy as Darkrai barreled into him, seizing the form-fitting top of Renzan's cloak in his outstretched claws. With a shout, Darkrai brought all his strength to bear and heaved his enemy upwards.

"Is that all?" shouted Renzan as he sailed through the air. "You couldn't even hit me!"

Darkrai appeared before him, moving with Renzan as they continued their rapid ascent, and lunging for his throat. Renzan intercepted him with an open palm, but Darkrai's other arm was already a blur of motion. His uppercut caught Renzan in the chest and renewed his momentum. Renzan sneered, preparing another energy attack, but he froze as faint rays of light fell upon the back of his head. The charged power sparked and died in his hands.

Together, they burst through the sea of iron-gray clouds and into a brilliant golden sky.

Renzan's expression urned from shock to panic as Darkrai approached. He tried to move, his arms grasping at nothing, but he found himself in helpless free fall. "No..." said Darkrai, drawing close. "_This_ is all." He pounded his leg down into his foe's stomach, and with one short yell Renzan disappeared among the clouds.

Darkrai lingered for a moment, allowing the sun to dry him. He drew in a deep breath as with each drop of rain the light wicked away his strength returned. When he felt sufficiently revitalized, he descended, watching the clouds whip by. Already the amount of rain was diminishing. As Darkrai cleared the bottom layer of the nimbuses and the ground came into view, he beheld Renzan's body, splayed on the rocky earth like a broken marionette. He faced up up from the wet grass and slick stones, mouth slightly open, as if he was still trying trying to grasp the trick the sky had played on him.

Darkrai did a double-take—suddenly, there were two figures below. Immediately, Darkrai sped to ground level, landing hard on his feet before resuming his usual floating manner. Grey—for of course he was the second figure—smiled, though he looked anything but cheery. "You really did a number on him. He'd have been all right if he'd stayed in the rain a bit longer, but it looks like you dragged him out right before he'd healed."

Darkrai pointed threateningly at him. "I killed him, and I'll kill you. Let's—"

Grey bulldozed Darkrai's _go_. "You didn't kill him. Renzan's not the smartest, but he's tough." He shook his head. "No, he'll live. Unfortunately, his little stunt has caused us a lot of trouble, so I doubt he'll be in the highest favor..."

'Trouble how?" scoffed Darkrai, sounding unimpressed but unable to resist giving Renzan a glance as if he could see if Grey was telling the truth. "You really need this clown?"

"Yes, actually, he was acting as guard before he got bored and decided to go lose to you. Ugh. We were lucky to have caught her in the first place, now we'll never recapture her..."

Darkrai froze. "Her?"

"Yes, her." Grey shrugged. "I have no idea why I'm standing here chatting with you... I guess Magus and Renzan's company gets pretty tiring." Stooping, he slung one of Renzan's arms over his shoulder.

"Hold it!" barked Darkrai. "Who's 'her?'"

Grey rolled his eyes as she straightened, bearing Renzan's weight. "Come on—you already know. Oh, and she probably hasn't gotten far from the ruins yet. I'd start there." Then he was gone.

* * *

A/N: Back from a trip with two chapters in tow (one isn't typed up yet, but...)! The French title translates to "The Gray Sky." Heh heh, double entendres. Or something. Anyway.

I'm proud of how Chapter Seven has turned out, and I really think you'll like it. Things are definitely coming to a head for this story, so stay tuned, bring on the concrit, and enjoy!


	7. Juggernaut Inbound

"What—?" Mew stared in shock at Magus. "What did you do?"

Magus smiled thinly, though no emotion entered into the expression. "It would be inconvenient for us to have Arceus interfere now, so you won't be getting them ba—"

Celebi dashed at Magus, reaching his target in the blink of an eye and lunging at his head, but his blow sailed through empty air; the foe was already gone.

"You'll never catch me at that speed." The Lieutenants spun to find Magus standing behind them. "We're about to enter the final phase of this spectacle, and we need to ensure Arceus isn't aware of that fact."

"'Final phase?'" repeated Jirachi. "Your whole plan ends with Regigigas destroying a city?"

"Hardly." Magus pointed at Celebi, who was clearly considering attacking a second time. "You can't get the Azure Flutes back by assaulting me; can't you sense they're gone? In any case, the only ones of your number who have the speed to match ours are the two Deoxys, and we have already dealt with them."

Celebi glared back at him. "I doubt that. You're too weak to _deal with_ Deoxys or Deoxya."

"Weak, are we?" Magus arched an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you never considered the possibility that we aren't the masters of this plot."

"We considered it," said Mew. "Are you planning on telling us who that is, then?"

"Something far worse than a rampaging Legendary Pokémon is coming," said Magus in utter disregard of Mew's question. "When the moon rises..." He gestured at the sun, which was poised to begin its dip below the horizon line. "You'll see."

"_Who is—_" Mew began, but Magus interrupted her smoothly. "Don't you have a more immediate problem?" He tilted his head as if indicating over his shoulder.

"Unfortunately, he's right!" shouted Celebi. "Come on!" The Lieutenants dashed past Magus, who made no move to hinder them, and flew after Regigigas; the titan was already a considerable distance from them. Accelerating to her limit, Jirachi closed the gap in a matter of seconds, turning once she'd passed Regigigas and keeping pace backwards with his strides. "This might sting a little," she muttered to no one in particular, then shouted to Mew and Celebi: "Get ready! If this doesn't knock him down, he could get a little aggressive!"

"Ready!" responded Mew at the considerable volume needed to reach Jirachi's ears.

Light began to pulse strongly within Jirachi's body. After a moment of concentration, she threw her arms wide as the large golden eye in her chest snapped open and sent a beam of ethereal blue light screaming outward. The dense energy lanced out and struck Regigigas full-on, breaking like a jet of water and spreading across the Pokémon's broad frame in waves. Regigigas slowed as Jirachi sustained the attack, his strides decreasing significantly in length, but he did not stop and didn't appear close to being knocked off his feet.

Jirachi allowed the stream of energy to dissipate as Celebi and Mew joined her, all three still moving backward quickly to avoid being bulldozed by Regigigas. "Okay, that didn't even scratch him."

"It's the Unown," said Celebi. "It didn't even _hit_ him."

"He was right; we can't disrupt the Unown's field with restrained attacks." Mew's aqua eyes scanned Regigigas's immense figure, searching for any exploitable gap in the runic Pokémon. "And only Master Arceus can control them."

Jirachi fired a quick pulse directly at one of the Unown, but the energy dispersed and left no sign of damage. "If one of us goes to Spear Pillar, can't he let us in?"

"We wouldn't make it in time." Celebi shook his head. "And he isn't be expecting us, so he wouldn't know to let us in."

Mew said, "We'll just try more and more powerful attacks until the Unown are dislodged, or..."

The other two were silent as they regarded Regigigas. Mew didn't need to finish her sentence.

-s- -s- -s-

Darkrai rose silently as a specter from the pool of shadow upon the ground, a unique and effective means of travel; in that insubstantial form, Darkrai was able to cover great distances without giving obstacles—or physics—any consideration. He found himself on a shallowly sloped, grassy hill dotted with large, broken chunks of stone. They were once towers, perhaps, or walls, some remnants of whatever grand structure that time had warred with until it became the Northern Ruins. Looking about him, Darkrai could see no sign of Deoxys or Deoxya, or of the three enemies they'd come to confront. Nor was there a sign of the one he was seeking, the one he'd been searching for since before the moon's light had died away...

_You have to be here._ He made his way to the top of the hill and cast his gaze over the horizon in a last hope he would see her there. But there was nothing, and no one.

Then a hand tapped him in the shoulder, and a voice in his ear said, "Surprise."

Darkrai whirled violently, drawing his fist back, ready to slam it into the face of Grey until nothing was left, because he was sick of the Reverse Moon and the mad plot surrounding it. He could no longer convince himself that pursuing these enemies would bring him any closer to finding her, so to hell with it and—

The same hand that had touched him closed around his fist, a hand that so perfectly over his, its angularly clawed fingers meshing with the grooves between his own. It wasn't Grey's. Darkrai stared wordlessly at the hand's owner, and was sure time had stopped.

"Don't you even recognize my voice?" she said.

She had a slimmer build than he, a chest that was less broad and a slighter frame. Her arms were the same with their one bend and razor-sharp ridges along the forearms, and the point where her head met her torso was also obscured by a crest of large, blood-red spikes. Her skin was a shade blacker than Darkrai's, a color so dark it could only be likened to ink. Two wisps of that same unfathomable black rose from each of her shoulders, and a similar smoky trail, this one pale gray-white in color, topped her head; the latter seemed to grow more solid toward her body. It fell like hair over her face—where Darkrai's was rougher in the front, hers flowed more gracefully, though it had the same spiky tuft—and obscured all but one half-moon of an eye, its white pupil surrounded by a soft gradient of azure blue.

"I looked for you." Darkrai's voice wasn't quite its usual growl, and it possessed a quality which (if one didn't know Darkrai better) could have been interpreted as warmth. "I thought I saw you once, but..."

"You didn't think I was gone for good, did you?" She smiled. "I'm too strong for that."

"Darkia..." It was a name he hadn't uttered in far too long. "I never thought that."

"You are stubborn." Darkia's tone slid sideways, becoming sly. "So you've been fighting with Master Arceus, eh? Against the three human lookalikes, and that white clone of you? How did you survive?"

Darkrai's arms appeared to automatically cross themselves before his chest. "You're saying that you're surprised?"

"I'm shocked! I'm _surprised_ you haven't been killed by a Pidgey!"

"And what about you? You were kidnapped by three of the biggest weaklings I've ever seen!"

"Judging from that punch you just tried to land on me, I'd say your skills didn't improve much while I was away."

"What's to improve?"

"Oh, I get it. You don't have _any_ skills."

"Tell me, did they fight you or did you just walk into an obvious trap?"

"They didn't fight me; they hung back until a third one I didn't know was there came up from behind!"

"I imagine that's because they didn't want to get caught in all the flailing!"

Their voices rose steadily, the sound drifting throughout the ruins and perhaps bringing a smile to the faces of the spirits who might have been responsible for the moaning wind. But watching the pair from afar was a dark figure who was far more solid than a ghost and most certainly alive..._still_ alive. He had been observing the Legendaries for some time, more often than not shadowing Darkrai, comfortable remaining uninvolved—for the time being. The shade chuckled as Darkia attempted to whack Darkrai across the face and Darkrai retaliated, and in a matter of seconds the two were tumbling together down the steeper side of the knoll. "So there are three of us now." He laughed. "How will they tell us apart?"

Having picked themselves up from the abrupt end to their trip down the hill, Darkrai and Darkia proceeded to pick up their conversation as well. Their words flowed back, forth, and together; at every turn there was a counter-turn, at every retort a matching scoff, a layered barrage of tailor-made insults, until, shouted at the same time:

"Just shut up!"

And then there was silence.

After a minute's worth of softly whistling wind, Darkrai turned to Darkia from the arms-folded, horizon-line stare each of them had adopted. "Let's go home."

"Home." Darkia sighed. "I've missed the garden..."

"There's nothing stopping us." Darkrai summed up and dismissed everything related to the Reverse Moon with a wave of his hand. "Mew and he rest can worry about themselves."

Darkia faced him. "I'm not going home until we've ended this."

"Feel free to retract what you just said at any time," growled Darkrai.

"This is important. And _hey_, shouldn't you be out for revenge against the three who captured me?"

"I told you, Mew and Deoxys and all the others will find them and poof! Cue guts splattering onto the charred ground."

Darkia shook her head. "But those three aren't the ones responsible for the moon. They're just agents of someone, I don't know who, and that someone is a real threat."

"Think of how much I care in negatives," Darkrai said drily. "In fact, how much I care is probably about how much time it would take Arceus to kill whoever you're talking about."

"You just don't get it. Well, you can head on back to Sinnoh by yourself."

"But I won't," said Darkrai shortly.

Darkia grinned. "That's right. You'd never miss an opportunity for complaining like this one, would you?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll stick around until we fix the damn moon."

"Do I have your word?"

"If I was keeping my word," said Darkrai. "I'd have to move to Kanto for the interesting people."

Darkia began, "What pe—"

Just then, as if Darkrai's words had carried incredible, time-transcending magic, Deoxys and Deoxya were spat from a swirling wormhole that appeared and vanished like a mouth opening and snapping shut on something positively delicious.

Forever unimpressed, Darkrai pointed at Deoxys. "There's one of them now."

"I think it's safe to say we're back," said Deoxys with a sigh.

Deoxya addressed Darkrai. "I don't believe we've met."

"I'm Darkia," the smaller Pitch-black Pokémon said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Deoxya, and this is Deoxys." She smiled with her eyes. "Pleased to meet you." Darkia indicated the same while Deoxys turned to Darkrai. "Someone you neglected to mention _this whole time?_"

Darkrai's smile wasn't so much as insincere. "Aren't we all just finding our other halves this week."

Deoxys groaned aloud. "Deoxya is my sister!"

Darkrai looked as if he'd been hit by something heavy, or at least as if he'd prefer that to having formed an opinion based on something that had come out of Rotom's mouth. "He's just embarrassed," chuckled Darkia. "He wouldn't admit to knowing me because I'm stronger than him."

"Back in reality," retorted Darkrai, "where _I'm_ stronger, don't we have something to do here?"

"Now that you mention it..." Deoxys momentarily closed his eyes, as he always did when concentrating on energy signatures. "Lord Lugia is still here, and I can sense him more clearly now. I guess they were stifling his energies somehow."

"But no Giratina," pointed out Deoxya, a smile at Darkrai's expense still on her face. "Hold on, I'll go find Lord Lugia." She morphed to Speed form and was gone in an instant.

The wind's whistling was again the only noise present.

"Meanwhile," said Darkrai, "I bet Mew and Jirachi and Celebi have already killed those three, and the moon is back to normal."

-s- -s- -s-

Darkrai's bet was, unfortunately, not true. The Lieutenants were still battling to stop Regigigas's charge, and as if things hadn't been bad enough before, the Colossal Pokémon was now attacking back. While his lumbering swings were all but telegraphed, they were still fast. The juggernaut himself was moving at incredible speed; this owed more to the sheer length of his strides than anything else.

They'd tried everything, and tired it all again at successively high power levels, but the Unown's barrier could be breached. The field ever dispersed the physical force of their attacks, and their attempts to trip Regigigas by targeting his legs had come to nought. All three knew they were running out of options.

"All right," said Mew as they flew backwards following a combined assault on Regigigas's entire body that had been repelled. "This one might be too much for him..." Celebi and Jirachi looked on as a fiery blue glow surrounded her arm.

Mew swung her hand down and fired a brilliant pulse of energy, its long tail showing its trajectory as it instantly reached and struck Regigigas and detonated in a blinding flash. As the light faded, they could clearly see the Unown still in place, though the transparent force field seemed to flex slightly. Gritting her teeth, Mew prepared a stronger attack, and—

"Wait!" said Jirachi, holding an arm in front of Mew, her sharp eyes fixed on Regigigas. "It worked!"

"The barrier's still intact," said Celebi.

"But for a second, it wasn't!" Jirachi was insistent. "I saw it. They closed the gap, but for an instant there was an opening."

Mew lowered her own arm. "Well, that doesn't help us. If they can repair the field..."

"It means we can get inside," said Jirachi emphatically.

Celebi considered it, aware they didn't have much time before reaching the city. "What then?"

"Attack the force field," responded Jirachi. "From inside. That way, we can use full power without hurting Regigigas."

"You're right." Mew nodded to her. "Let's do it."

"You two hit him with something about that strong, from both sides," said Jirachi. "That should give me a gap big enough."

"Be careful," said Celebi. "You'll have to get pretty close to our attacks."

"And pretty close to him," muttered Jirachi.

Mew put a hand on her shoulder. "We have your back."

They spread out, Mew and Celebi flying lower and to the sides while Jirachi hovered directly in front of the titan, forming a triangle. "Now!" Jirachi yelled, and Celebi and Mew both fired wide streams of force that struck the Unown's force field as if impacting some great, invisible armor Regigigas wore. Jirachi moved close to the X-shaped energy crossfire until the glow hued her whole body, and, at the other two's shouts, dove forward just in time to miss the receding light and enter the hole in the barrier.

Jirachi had to quickly adjust her speed to keep from being run over by Regigigas, but she was able to summon a barrier of her own before the Unown repaired the damage to theirs, and the tear in the force field met with her shield and sealed safely behind it. She was effectively inside a bubble in the field (the rest was too close to Regigigas's body for her to even fit). Immediately the Symbol Pokémon brought the Pokémon's massive arm swinging at her, but she didn't turn as the shadow fell across her—she had her eyes screwed shut, anyway—and the limb met with the outside shield and stopped cold. Able to convince herself to open her eyes, Jirachi turned to face away from the giant, and crackling golden energy came to life around her.

Jirachi's blast made it look as though most of Regigigas's front had exploded into shafts of light. The Unown were blown away from Regigigas as their force field dragged them from his skin, and immediately Celebi and Mew joined Jirachi in harrying the Pokémon away. More and more were pulled with their dislodged compatriots and separated from Regigigas until finally the last black rune was gone.

Suddenly, Regigigas's voice boomed in their ears. "I will not be able to stop in time."

"Wha?" Jirachi, who had been on the verge of celebrating, turned and saw they were within kiolmeters of the human city. Although Regigigas's pace was slowing, he was still covering a great distance with each step, and they were closing fast.

"Regigigas..." She faced the Colossal Pokémon. "Take a nap!"

Jirachi punched Regigigas, flat-out punched him, and in a flash he was knocked off his feet. He hurtled along for a moment, almost parallel to the ground, and then landed on his back in a spectacular skid that easily caused as much damage as a meteor, and, at last, was still.

-s- -s- -s-

_But not all was still..._

"Hold on..." Darkia gazed up, over their heads, at the darkening sky where the stars were just becoming visible. "Look."

"Is that...?" Deoxys craned his neck.

"The moon," said Deoxya, but that was not the whole story. "It's..."

As they watched, a sliver of light that had suddenly appeared in the sky slowly grew wider. It started as the faintest sickle, bent to the right from their point of view, and gradually began to fill in. Soon, it was almost a semicircle. The moon, which had been dormant for so long, was waxing.

* * *

A/N: Weird sort of a cliffhanger.

Don't worry, no one else has a "clone"/counterpart. Probably.


End file.
